'It's making children cry': Police tell man to tone down annual charity Halloween display

Daily Mail

A Halloween fan who put up a gruesome display of 'disembowelled corpses' outside his home has been asked by police to tone it down.
James Creighton, 25, was told that his scene was making children cry with its macabre reconstruction of a scene from The Texas Chainshaw Massacre.
He has put the display up outside his house in Stevenage to raise funds for charity every year since his grandmother died in 2009.But one parent complained to Hertfordshire Constabulary, concerned that the collection of 'bloody corpses and gory skeletons' was scaring young children.
But Mr Creighton said: 'I can't believe it to be honest. I can't see what I've done wrong.'
The decorations were assembled outside the front of his home at the start of the month to support Cancer Research UK.

As usual, I searched and didn't find this already posted.

I do not live in the U.K., so I don't know how the civil rights issues work there, but in my opinion, this is absolutely ridiculous.
Can the police force this man to remove decorations? I realize that they technically haven't done so, but if he refuses, could they?

Also, how do members that live in the U.K. feel about this situation, how would they react?

i thought that was the point of halloween. why does everything have to be so damn family friendly.

reply to post by Bisman


That's essentially my view. I mean, these kids(even those in the U.K.) have probably seen far worse on television or in movies. I would bet that the only person(s) that were affected by the display were the parents.

does anyone still "trick"?

i bet nowadays if you answered your door in a gruesome costume and scared the crap out of kids,
sensitive parents would declare assault or something.

like what do people expect when you go around the neighborhood during halloween time. does every ghost and skeleton have to be watered down with a silly smiley face?

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


Sorry, but even if it is Halloween (and i am one of the first to celebrate...) and respecting the artistic talents of the person who put those works of art out on his front doorstep... If one of us is a parent of a very young child who cannot understand... would you really like your VERY YOUNG child to see such realistic looking art work... Even if it is displayed for a good cause?

For those who wish to post a snarky comment to my post... look at the pictures first in the link that prof provided... here :

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Kindest respects

Rodinus

reply to post by ProfessorChaos

One UK viewpoint is that he was doing it on the wrong side of the Atlantic.
Halloween mania being an American phenomenon, it ought to remain there.
And even in America, the whole point is that it should be fun for children, surely? So positively frightening children rather defeats the object.
Their reaction shows that he was doing it in a country where it isn't familiar and where it doesn't really belong.

It isn't that realisitic looking really, besides which there was one complaint. This reaction is way over the top and rediculous. most kids will see things anyway, either through the various media, toys or even in real life. If you molly coddle kids to much then how are they ever to have a healthy relationship with reality.

Rodinus
reply to post by ProfessorChaos

 

Sorry, but even if it is Halloween (and i am one of the first to celebrate...) and respecting the artistic talents of the person who put those works of art out on his front doorstep... If one of us is a parent of a very young child who cannot understand... would you really like your VERY YOUNG child to see such realistic looking art work... Even if it is displayed for a good cause?

For those who wish to post a snarky comment to my post... look at the pictures first in the link that prof provided... here :

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Speaking as a parent, I would avoid the house if I didn't want my kid to see it, not call the cops.

DISRAELI
reply to post by ProfessorChaos

 

One UK viewpoint is that he was doing it on the wrong side of the Atlantic.
Halloween mania being an American phenomenon, it ought to remain there.
And even in America, the whole point is that it should be fun for children, surely? So positively frightening children rather defeats the object.
Their reaction shows that he was doing it in a country where it isn't familiar and where it doesn't really belong.

I would agree except for the fact that there was only one complaint. That certainly doesn't mean that scores of children were emotionally traumatized by the display.

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


Agreed totally Prof.

Does a 5 to 7 year old kid really need to see that when out trick or treating?

I don't think so?

The parent could have just explained the situation calmly to the person exhibiting instead of snitching.

Some people posting here clearly are not parents and do not understand the responsabilities of what being a parent is about!

Kindest respects

rodinus

When I was a young kid there was a house I'd see while trick or treating which every year would have a guy sitting in a chair on the walkway up to the home and he'd have on the most frightening mask I'd ever seen. As a child this scared the living hell out of me. I can remember seeing the house up ahead and trying to avoid walking anywhere near it. It scared me. It scared me at a distance, but I didn't drop to my knees and cry to my mother as she walked around with me. I just chose not to go up to the home. It was bad enough being able to see the guy at a distance. I'm sure he could tell some people were avoiding his house. He knew it was because of that mask he had on, but he never had any idea how terrifying it was through eyes down on the sidewalk. There was an incline up to the front porch so he was on a higher elevation than those on street level. This just added to the terror. I'd see some people going up to him and I'd think to myself, "Man you're brave." In a way I was setting a goal for myself to quit being scared of him. It took some time, but eventually no mask or decoration could ever scare me.

Taking away the opportunity to "face your fears" is a very damaging thing to do. Avoid the home this year and maybe next year the child will feel like they want to approach. If not, wait another year and see what happens. Experiencing the fear is the first step to losing the fear. Do you want your child to become a fearful adult or do you want them to have the opportunity as child to experience fear and throughout their childhood be able to think about these things and overcome them?

The guy has some talent. Since he's raising money it's a shame he can't enclose the area into a haunted house/yard theme. Then charge money for people to come in.

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


Have you good people ever heard of The London Dungeon? It is a tourist attraction in London (and there are others across the country) where the gruesome history of London, from the wicked acts of torture inflicted on enemies of the crown, the horrors of the Great Fire of London, the plague, Saucy Jack The Ripper, and so on. These incidents of London's history are played out by actors in period and character costume, using chronologically appropriate language for the time they are depicting, all done within settings arranged with semi fanatical attention to detail. The tour around these snapshots of London history, ends with a "ride" called the Gallows Drop, which involves being hoisted into the air, read a list of charges by a set of animatronic judges, and dropped twenty five feet or so (obviously their is a hydraulic stopper to prevent catastrophic spinal damage, and a safety harness to keep you in your seat), during which, a picture is taken to immortalise the look on your face as you drop.

This attraction is one of the most popular in the country, and is unflinchingly shocking. Its like a period slasher movie you walk around in! Now... if you are telling me, that a bunch of kids are crying over this fellows Halloween display, then my advice to the parents is to get their kids to grow a set. Kids have been listening to fairy tales much more grim than any set of sculptures in a garden.

I am honestly ashamed of the human race after hearing this pathetic, and utterly reprehensible news. Honestly, if people can be terrified by such things, then perhaps they need to be terrified, until they do not feel that way anymore.

Rodinus
reply to post by ProfessorChaos

 

Sorry, but even if it is Halloween (and i am one of the first to celebrate...) and respecting the artistic talents of the person who put those works of art out on his front doorstep... If one of us is a parent of a very young child who cannot understand... would you really like your VERY YOUNG child to see such realistic looking art work... Even if it is displayed for a good cause?

For those who wish to post a snarky comment to my post... look at the pictures first in the link that prof provided... here :

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Kindest respects

Rodinus

My initial reaction to this article was very similar to this. I understand it's Halloween, but many children may not understand all the decorations in the yard, and it could really frighten them. But then I saw the pictures, and if that's what people are complaining about, then they all need to get a thicker skin. I guess my imagination must've pictured something far worse than that. I now agree with the guy in the article, and don't get what he did wrong.

I can see taking down, or at least covering up the gorified torso a bit, but everything else is standard Halloween fodder.

Good on him. keeping halloween alive, nowadays most of the kids in my suburb dont show up in masks/costumes. They just want free candy.
Good thing all the candys been eaten by me by the time they arrive.

reply to post by Rodinus


Parents don't HAVE to take their children to THAT house. I am sure there are others they can take them to.

groingrinder
reply to post by Rodinus

 

Parents don't HAVE to take their children to THAT house. I am sure there are others they can take them to.

And the kiddies can't see that from the sidewalk?

There are 2 Halloweens. One for kids and then one for adults after the kids are chowing down sweets. This display is for the latter, not the former.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I have made a full size coffin and animated tombstone display. I hope to get a Roswell Alien constructed this year to add to the fun. One day I hope to have as nice a display as the man in the OP article.

I guess this year I've been seeing a bit more in the news about controversial Halloween displays or perhaps they are just more reported?

Indeed the question would be, did they go to far? Does authority have the right or people in protests to tell them that they should remove the "decorations".

Here's others in example,
Gravestones with light witty eulogy messages lining the man's driveway/stone yard to the sides of it that neighbors find disturbing-sorry can't find link but it may have been on DMail, I don't see that as much of a problem, not even to mention it's done for Halloween.

However this(Dmail used because of images included),
www.dailymail.co.uk... - Sorry if violates T&C here.

An Oklahoma man took his love of Halloween pranks a step too far when he staged a realistic- looking crime scene in his driveway, complete with bloody corpses, prompting his neighbors to call 911.

The people made up that had accidents, the blood adding to the gore as opposed to the fake bodies minus blood, which have been popular in years, such as fake arms and legs sticking out of trunks.

Being someone who is all for Halloween decor and theatrics of it, that display just seems a bit much because how realistic it is, and now days that just may be pushing it.

If you compare the OP story "'It's making children cry':" to the aboves realistic bodies, the decor seems quite tame with the "zombie corpses".